Today we take a sledge hammer to an old Dell computer.
Materials
One old broken Dell computer.
A sledge hammer.
Observations
This video is filled with all kinds of goodness. I love the flex we get to see in the fiberglass handle of the sledge hammer. The dust bunnies uprooted from their home is also incredibly interesting. It is amazing the amount of dust that builds up in these things. I also like to see the plastic flexing as the hammer comes down on it.
Procedure
For this shot I loaded the wand with dirt and turned the vacuum on.
Observations
To make the motion more visible I took the shutter speed down to match the frame rate, giving us as much motion blur as possible. This also gives us a wider in-focus range as we also had a much higher aperture.
Today we look at the effect of a bullet on a concrete cinder block.
Materials
Cinder blocks
Ruger 223.
Procedure
Ready….aim…..FIRE!
Result
A small explosion of dust and concrete chunks.
Observations
It is interesting to note the difference between the entry and exit dust sprays. The initial entry point dust explosion is rather small where as the exit is quite large, I surmise this is from the bullet flattening. The spray of debris resulting from the impact and split is interesting to study. One can see a fairly even distribution of larger and smaller chunks. I am rather curious as to how much of the debris is caused from the bullet as it impacted the second wall. The bullet would have been much larger and flatter on the second impact than the first so I would suspect that the larger debris comes from that impact as opposed to the first. I would like to re-shoot this shot in profile to really get a glimpse of what is happening to the block itself.
Today we have another shot of Tannerite exploding in slow motion, this time however we have added a 30gallon drum filled with water to the mix. This is one that really benefits from stepping through frame by frame.
Materials
Two charges of Tannerite in a 20oz bottle.
30gallon plastic drum filled with water.
High powered rifle.
Procedure
Strap the bottle to drum and fire away.
Result
Kabooom! An explosion of water and smoke is the end result of the above procedure.
Observations
The most fascinating point of observation on this shot to me is the initial frames of the explosion. The explosion, then implosion then larger explosion is incredibly interesting to watch. The other thing I like is the barrel at the end of the shot. I’ll leave out the description of it as you no doubt have at least one eye of your own so I won’t spoil it.
Yesterday was another fun day at Matt Deal Farms. This time around Matt helped us out by doing a bit of driving for us. This is a slow motion shot of his truck flipping its back end around in the dirt.
Materials
A Ford F-250.
A driveway with a lot of soft, loose dirt.
Procedure
Living in a place with all of the above materials may eventually lead you to figure out the procedure on this one, I cannot describe it never having done it myself.
Result
Wow. Clouds and clouds of dust and dirt.
Observations
Where does one even start with a shot like this? I could sum it up in one word, and in fact already did under the results. Wow. I love the way this particular shot turned out. The formation of the cloud is incredible to watch, the rolling of the dust, the billowing of the cloud, the streamers of dirt from the tires. I’m going to leave the observation here to you. I’ve watched it several times at this point and have absolutely no words that I can add to make it any more interesting than it already is.
Today we have a high-speed video of Tannerite exploding. What is Tannerite you ask? Cool. Thats what it is. Very cool in fact. At least if you enjoy explosions. Tannerite is a binary high explosive. Binary meaning it requires two elements, both stable when separate, to be combined into something that can be detonated. Tannerite is made from Zirconium Hydride (ZrH2) and an oxidizer, Sodium Nitrate (NaNO3). Why am I telling you this when I won’t go into detail with the gasoline explosions. Two reasons, one Zirconium Hydride is expensive as all get out, 3.4oz will set you back almost $300usd. The second is it is safe. It cannot be triggered by something as measly as a spark from a cigarette or static electricity as gasoline can. It requires a high speed rifle round (or a blasting cap) to trigger it. You can drop it and it wouldn’t explode…though I cannot say I’d recommend that. As with all explosives be safe or you’ll find yourself chatting with whichever higher power you subscribe to.
Materials
Tannerite.
High velocity rifle.
Procedure
Place the tannerite target and shoot it.
Result
A very loud, very powerful explosion.
Observations
In this instance we were using a 8oz charge placed under a log. It took a chunk about 2-3″ in diameter out of the log. The explosion is incredibly fast and incredibly loud. The rifle we were using was a Ruger 223 and it was quiet by way of comparison. I love the initial frames of the explosion as well as the way the smoke/dust cloud rolls out.
Side note, Tannerite is completely legal for non-redistribution purposes. No license is required. It can be ordered several places on the internet relatively inexpensively. As with all explosives it is dangerous. For example, we strapped a 20oz bottle of it to a 30gal plastic drum. The hole on the side it was strapped to was in excess of 16″. The hole on the other side….well there was no other side to speak of. At least, not one that could be measured. I do not recommend idly playing with this stuff. But if you are a regular user of firearms then these are wonderful targets. Tannerite’s primary purpose is to be used as small targets for long range firearms practice. The reason for this is it is unmistakable when you hit it, unlike a normal paper target.
Today I will demonstrate the improper disposal of a compact fluorescent light bulb. This was a bulb that had chosen to discorporate long before it’s rated lifespan. I didn’t bother to perform an autopsy as I figured it might ruin a perfectly good photo opportunity. The high-speed camera arrived and provided me with the means for capturing a most improper disposal of the dangerous chemicals contained in the corpse of the CFL.* Details below.
Materials
Compact fluorescent light bulb, 1.
A solid surface, in this case the asphalt outside the studio. (Optional? It could be a soft surface, that may be interesting.)
Black tin foil. Amount depends on how wide your shot is. (Optional)
Black background. (Optional)
Procedure
Toss the light bulb at a moderate speed towards the center of the field of view of the camera.
Result
The light bulb penetrates the ground, displacing the lighter earth molecules, thereby displacing time and is suddenly transported to a split second before it was going to/already had penetrate(d) the ground.** This time physics and reality asserts their right to rule the interactions of this universe and the light bulb promptly shattered in to quite a few, rather tiny, pieces. See kids, physics can be fun. Enjoy!
*CFL’s contain mercury vapor.
**Not really. At least not that this camera was able to detect…perhaps the next model.
Full Resolution download: Coming soon…
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